Semantics

Friday, May 23, 2008

Unit 10 Study Guide and Exercises1. Explain the following terms and concepts:synonymy/synonym *paraphrase*intension * hyponymy/hyponym*symmetrical hyponymy *superordinate term *entailment *transitive relation *Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion *co-hyponyms *sense relations2. Do you think it is easier to learn words as unique items, or as part of a system involving various kinds of sense relationships? That is, is it easier to learn words when we can relate them in systematic ways or when we learn them separately? Briefly explain.It is probably easier to learn words as part of a system of interlocking sense relationships, because many, if not most, words share aspects of meaning with each other which recur again and again. These shared aspects of meaning make the acquisition process more efficient. For example, animal, dog, and cat, though clearly different in meaning, share some components of meaning: they refer to living non-human entities, and we know that dogs and cats are subtypes of animal that are commonly used as pets, etc.3. What is meant by synonymy? Why is it difficult to define this term? Do most synonyms have identical or just similar meanings (or senses)? Do you think true synonymy exists? Try to support your answer with appropriate examples.Synonymy is a meaning relation between words in which the words share the same or nearly the same meaning. It is difficult to define precisely, in part because true cases are rare if they exist at all. True synonymy likely does not exist, although some cases are close: sofa, couch, and davenport seem very similar in meaning to most people.4. Identify in the following sentences the pair of words in caps which appear to share the same (or nearly the same) sense. In some (or all) cases it may be difficult to decide, so be ready to explain the difficulty. Same (or nearly the same): 4a and 4b. 4e is unclear. The other cases seem clearly different in meaning.a. Fred always sleeps on the SOFA/COUCH.b. The neighbors have a BIG/LARGE family.c. The winning horse TROTTED/RAN to the finish line.d. This table is very SMOOTH/FLAT.e. That is a very HIGH/TALL building.f. That is a very FLAT/SLIPPERY road.

5. Synonyms usually share some but not all senses. This becomes evident in certain of their uses. For each apparent synonym pair below supply sentences in which the two words can be used interchangably without altering the sense of the sentence, and then give another sentence using one of the words in a different sense (where no interchange is possible with the same meaning).a. small/little e. cheap/inexpensiveb. hard/difficult f. bright/well-litc. long/extended g. sad/dejectedd. lady/woman h. rob/steal5a. Jane built a small/little house; Jane will arrive in a little/?small while.5b. That's a hard/difficult project; This floor has a hard/?difficult surface.5c. I took a long/extended trip; She had a long/?extended face.5d. She's a pretty lady/woman; The First Lady/?Woman stayed there.5e. The book is cheap/inexpensive; That's a cheap/?inexpensive joke.5f. The room was bright/well-lit; He's a bright/?well-lit student.5g. John looked sad/dejected; Today was a sad/?dejected day.5h. They robbed/stole from the rich; They robbed/?stole the bank.

i. Do the same for the synonym pairs you identified in 4 above.

6. A special kind of synonymy falls under the heading of euphemism, whereby a culturally or socially disagreeable word is replaced by a more agreeable one with essentially (though not exactly) the same meaning. For each term below try to find several euphemisms which are less harsh, offensive, or explicit. For item (h) try to think of several additional examples. One example is given per item.a. war (conflict) f. toilet (powder room)b. crazy (disturbed) g. poor (disadvantaged)c. damn (darn) h. crippled (handicapped)d. fired from a job (laid off) i. stupid (slow)e. blind (visually impaired) h. ___________

7. Sometimes synonyms can have either positive or negative connotations, as shown by the first set below. Try to complete the other examples. A thesaurus may be helpful. Answers will vary widely. Suggestions are given below.NEUTRAL TERM POSITIVE NEGATIVEcareful scrupulous keep a sharp eye onsave money be frugal be miserlyreserved shy reclusivelevelheaded careful dullcurious inquisitive nosyslow deliberate lagginglaugh chuckle snickertalk converse gossipold mature decrepityoung inexperienced immature8. What is a paraphrase? How are the notions of synonymy and paraphrase distinguished in semantics?Paraphrases are sentences that have the same set of entailments: they mutually entail each other. Synonymy evokes the notion of sameness of meaning applied to individual predicates, while paraphrase evokes the same notion applied to entire sentences (or the propositions expressed by those sentences).

9. Supply as many paraphrases as you can for each of the following sentences. Remember that each paraphrase must have the same set of entailments as the original sentence. Answers will vary considerably. One possible paraphrase is given per item.a. I gave the book to my friend. I gave my friend the book.b. Your child took out the garbage. Your child took the garbage out.c. It is likely that Fred will win the race. Fred will likely win the race.d. John is easy to please. It's easy to please John.e. The sales clerk received the money from me. I received the money from the sales clerk.f. Some students have a job. Not all students have a job.

10. What is meant by hyponymy? When predicates are organized according to their hyponymic relationships with each other the resulting tree diagram is sometimes called a taxonomy. Hyponymy is a meaning relation between predicates involving meaning inclusion, where the meaning of one predicate is included in that of another. Example: rose is a hyponym of flower, because the meaning of flower is contained in the meaning of rose.

11. Organize each of the following groups of words into a taxonomy in which the superordinate terms and their hyponyms are properly arranged with respect to each other. Be sure to identify which terms are superordinate and which are hyponyms (and which are co-hyponyms). Identify any problems you might have in organizing the data, and supply additional data if you can think of them. It may be helpful to sketch a tree diagram. Are you aware of any other disciplines in which such taxonomies are used? a. hammer, screwdriver, wrench, awl, tool, pliersb. capenter, electrician, craftsman, plumberc. mammal, human, animal, amphibian, reptile, frog, snaked. shatter, crack, break, smash, fracturee. man, woman, husband, bachelor, wife, human, widowUnit 10 Study Guide and Exercises 1. Explain the following terms and concepts: synonymy/synonym *paraphrase*intension * hyponymy/hyponym*symmetrical hyponymy *superordinate term *entailment *transitive relation *Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion *co-hyponyms *sense relations 2. Do you think it is easier to learn words as unique items, or as part of a system involving various kinds of sense relationships? That is, is it easier to learn words when we can relate them in systematic ways or when we learn them separately? Briefly explain. It is probably easier to learn words as part of a system of interlocking sense relationships, because many, if not most, words share aspects of meaning with each other which recur again and again. These shared aspects of meaning make the acquisition process more efficient. For example, animal, dog, and cat, though clearly different in meaning, share some components of meaning: they refer to living non-human entities, and we know that dogs and cats are subtypes of animal that are commonly used as pets, etc. 3. What is meant by synonymy? Why is it difficult to define this term? Do most synonyms have identical or just similar meanings (or senses)? Do you think true synonymy exists? Try to support your answer with appropriate examples. Synonymy is a meaning relation between words in which the words share the same or nearly the same meaning. It is difficult to define precisely, in part because true cases are rare if they exist at all. True synonymy likely does not exist, although some cases are close: sofa, couch, and davenport seem very similar in meaning to most people. 4. Identify in the following sentences the pair of words in caps which appear to share the same (or nearly the same) sense. In some (or all) cases it may be difficult to decide, so be ready to explain the difficulty. Same (or nearly the same): 4a and 4b. 4e is unclear. The other cases seem clearly different in meaning. a. Fred always sleeps on the SOFA/COUCH. b. The neighbors have a BIG/LARGE family. c. The winning horse TROTTED/RAN to the finish line. d. This table is very SMOOTH/FLAT. e. That is a very HIGH/TALL building. f. That is a very FLAT/SLIPPERY road. 5. Synonyms usually share some but not all senses. This becomes evident in certain of their uses. For each apparent synonym pair below supply sentences in which the two words can be used interchangably without altering the sense of the sentence, and then give another sentence using one of the words in a different sense (where no interchange is possible with the same meaning). a. small/little e. cheap/inexpensive b. hard/difficult f. bright/well-lit c. long/extended g. sad/dejected d. lady/woman h. rob/steal 5a. Jane built a small/little house; Jane will arrive in a little/?small while. 5b. That's a hard/difficult project; This floor has a hard/?difficult surface. 5c. I took a long/extended trip; She had a long/?extended face. 5d. She's a pretty lady/woman; The First Lady/?Woman stayed there. 5e. The book is cheap/inexpensive; That's a cheap/?inexpensive joke. 5f. The room was bright/well-lit; He's a bright/?well-lit student. 5g. John looked sad/dejected; Today was a sad/?dejected day. 5h. They robbed/stole from the rich; They robbed/?stole the bank. i. Do the same for the synonym pairs you identified in 4 above. 6. A special kind of synonymy falls under the heading of euphemism, whereby a culturally or socially disagreeable word is replaced by a more agreeable one with essentially (though not exactly) the same meaning. For each term below try to find several euphemisms which are less harsh, offensive, or explicit. For item (h) try to think of several additional examples. One example is given per item. a. war (conflict) f. toilet (powder room) b. crazy (disturbed) g. poor (disadvantaged) c. damn (darn) h. crippled (handicapped) d. fired from a job (laid off) i. stupid (slow) e. blind (visually impaired) h. ___________ 7. Sometimes synonyms can have either positive or negative connotations, as shown by the first set below. Try to complete the other examples. A thesaurus may be helpful. Answers will vary widely. Suggestions are given below. NEUTRAL TERM POSITIVE NEGATIVE careful scrupulous keep a sharp eye on save money be frugal be miserly reserved shy reclusive levelheaded careful dull curious inquisitive nosy slow deliberate lagging laugh chuckle snicker talk converse gossip old mature decrepit young inexperienced immature 8. What is a paraphrase? How are the notions of synonymy and paraphrase distinguished in semantics? Paraphrases are sentences that have the same set of entailments: they mutually entail each other. Synonymy evokes the notion of sameness of meaning applied to individual predicates, while paraphrase evokes the same notion applied to entire sentences (or the propositions expressed by those sentences). 9. Supply as many paraphrases as you can for each of the following sentences. Remember that each paraphrase must have the same set of entailments as the original sentence. Answers will vary considerably. One possible paraphrase is given per item. a. I gave the book to my friend. I gave my friend the book. b. Your child took out the garbage. Your child took the garbage out. c. It is likely that Fred will win the race. Fred will likely win the race. d. John is easy to please. It's easy to please John. e. The sales clerk received the money from me. I received the money from the sales clerk. f. Some students have a job. Not all students have a job. 10. What is meant by hyponymy? When predicates are organized according to their hyponymic relationships with each other the resulting tree diagram is sometimes called a taxonomy. Hyponymy is a meaning relation between predicates involving meaning inclusion, where the meaning of one predicate is included in that of another. Example: rose is a hyponym of flower, because the meaning of flower is contained in the meaning of rose. 11. Organize each of the following groups of words into a taxonomy in which the superordinate terms and their hyponyms are properly arranged with respect to each other. Be sure to identify which terms are superordinate and which are hyponyms (and which are co-hyponyms). Identify any problems you might have in organizing the data, and supply additional data if you can think of them. It may be helpful to sketch a tree diagram. Are you aware of any other disciplines in which such taxonomies are used? a. hammer, screwdriver, wrench, awl, tool, pliers b. capenter, electrician, craftsman, plumber c. mammal, human, animal, amphibian, reptile, frog, snake d. shatter, crack, break, smash, fracture e. man, woman, husband, bachelor, wife, human, widow 11a: Superordinate: tool; the other terms are hyponyms of tool 11b: Superordinate: craftsman; the other terms are its hyponyms 11c: Superordinate: animal; mammal, amphibian, and reptile are hyponyms of animal; human is a hyponym of mammal, frog is a hyponym of amphibian, and snake is a hyponym of reptile 11d: Superordinate: break; the other terms are hyponyms of break 11e: Superordinate: human; man and woman are hyponyms of human; husband and bachelor are hyponyms of man; wife and widow are hyponyms of woman 12. Explain what it means to say that hyponymy involves entailment. Both are one-way meaning relations in which the meaning of one is included in that of the other. But hyponymy is a one-way relation between individual predicates, whereas entailment is a one-way relation between sentences (or more precisely, between the propositions expressed by the sentences). 13. For each sentence below give another sentence which the first one entails, and then give one which the first does NOT entail. Answers will vary considerably. One example is given for each. a. John is a bachelor. Entails John is unmarried. Does not entail John is sad. b. John is a widower. Entails John is a man. Does not entail John is rich. c. Mary is divorced. Entails Mary was married. Does not entail Mary is old. d. This is a tulip. Entails This is a flower. Does not entail This is pretty. 14. Hyponymy and synonymy refer to relations between pairs of words., while entailment and paraphrase refer to relations between pairs of sentences. Supply the correct terms in the blanks. Hyponymy is to entailment as synonymy is to paraphrase. 15. What does the Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion have to say about the entailment relationship between the following two sentences? a. Mary bought a house. b. Mary bought a building. Sentence a entails sentence b, because the house is a hyponym of building. 16. Why does the Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion NOT work for the following pairs of sentences? How must it be amended to work here? a. Mary did not buy a house. b. Mary did not buy a building. Sentence a does not entail sentence b, even though house is a hyponym of building. If the sentences contain a negative, such as not, then the entailment relation is reversed: here sentence b entails sentence a. c. Mary bought all the houses in town. d. Mary bought all the buildings in town. Parallel to the relation between 16a and 16b: here sentence c does not entail sentence d, even though house is a hyponym of building. If the sentences contain the universal quantifier all, then the entailment relation is once again reversed: here sentence d entails sentence c. 17. Consider the following pair of sentences. Is there any entailment relation existing between them? Explain why or why not. a. Mary bought a big house. b. Mary bought a big building. No entailment relation exists between either sentence in 17, even though house is a hyponym of building. This is likely due to the presence of the gradable adjective big modifying house and building in each sentence. Somehow this upsets the relation between hyponymy and entailment described in the Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion.

11a: Superordinate: tool; the other terms are hyponyms of tool11b: Superordinate: craftsman; the other terms are its hyponyms11c: Superordinate: animal; mammal, amphibian, and reptile are hyponyms of animal; human is a hyponym of mammal, frog is a hyponym of amphibian, and snake is a hyponym of reptile11d: Superordinate: break; the other terms are hyponyms of break11e: Superordinate: human; man and woman are hyponyms of human; husband and bachelor are hyponyms of man; wife and widow are hyponyms of woman

12. Explain what it means to say that hyponymy involves entailment.Both are one-way meaning relations in which the meaning of one is included in that of the other. But hyponymy is a one-way relation between individual predicates, whereas entailment is a one-way relation between sentences (or more precisely, between the propositions expressed by the sentences).

13. For each sentence below give another sentence which the first one entails, and then give one which the first does NOT entail. Answers will vary considerably. One example is given for each.a. John is a bachelor. Entails John is unmarried. Does not entail John is sad.b. John is a widower. Entails John is a man. Does not entail John is rich.c. Mary is divorced. Entails Mary was married. Does not entail Mary is old.d. This is a tulip. Entails This is a flower. Does not entail This is pretty.

14. Hyponymy and synonymy refer to relations between pairs of words., while entailment and paraphrase refer to relations between pairs of sentences. Supply the correct terms in the blanks.Hyponymy is to entailment as synonymy is to paraphrase.

15. What does the Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion have to say about the entailment relationship between the following two sentences?a. Mary bought a house.b. Mary bought a building.Sentence a entails sentence b, because the house is a hyponym of building.16. Why does the Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion NOT work for the following pairs of sentences? How must it be amended to work here?a. Mary did not buy a house.b. Mary did not buy a building.Sentence a does not entail sentence b, even though house is a hyponym of building. If the sentences contain a negative, such as not, then the entailment relation is reversed: here sentence b entails sentence a.c. Mary bought all the houses in town.d. Mary bought all the buildings in town.Parallel to the relation between 16a and 16b: here sentence c does not entail sentence d, even though house is a hyponym of building. If the sentences contain the universal quantifier all, then the entailment relation is once again reversed: here sentence d entails sentence c.

17. Consider the following pair of sentences. Is there any entailment relation existing between them? Explain why or why not.a. Mary bought a big house.b. Mary bought a big building.No entailment relation exists between either sentence in 17, even though house is a hyponym of building. This is likely due to the presence of the gradable adjective big modifying house and building in each sentence. Somehow this upsets the relation between hyponymy and entailment described in the Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion.

1. Explain the following terms and concepts:*sense *synthetic sentences *analytic sentences *contradiction *set of sufficient conditions * necessary condition *sense properties of sentences * stereotype2. Assume that John is the same person in each of the following sentences. Now, if the sentence John is a bachelor is true, then is it true or false that a. John is male. c. John is human. b. John is unmarried. d. John is adult.All of (2a-d) are true, according to the intuitions of a typical native speaker, though 2d might be open to debate, depending on how adult is defined.We can say that the sentence John is a bachelor entails (a-d), because the truth of (a-d) necessarily follows from the proposition contained in the sentence John is a bachelor.The notion of entailment will be explored in greater detail in Unit 10.For questions 3-7, indicate whether each sentence is analytic, synthetic, or a contradiction. If you are not sure about a sentence, say why it is not a clear-cut case.3. a. All bachelors are unmarried. Analyticb. All bachelors are happy. Syntheticc. All bachelors are married. ContradictionIdentification of the items in 3 seems reasonably clear-cut.

4. a. All misers are stingy. Analytic (?)b. All misers are rich. Synthetic (?)c. All misers waste money. Contradiction (?)d. All misers are miserable. Synthetic (?)The items in 4 are more problematic. The suggested answers are based on most native speakers' intuitions about the meaning of miser, but are open to debate.

5. a. All carnivores eat meat. Analytic (?)b. All mammals produce live young. Analytic (?)The items in 5 are also problematic. Pandas are classed by zoologists as carnivores, but they only eat bamboo. Yet most animals classed as carnivores do eat meat. Nearly all mammals do produce live young, and yet the platypus lays eggs. Interpreting these sentences as analytic seems to be based on naïve speaker knowledge rather than expert knowledge.

6. a. My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor. Contradictionb. This stool has a broken back. UnclearLabeling 6b depends on how stool is defined.

7. a. Kings are monarchs. Analyticb. Kings are male. Analyticc. Kings are fathers. Syntheticd. Fahd bin Abdulaziz al Saud was the last king. Synthetice. Witches are wicked. Syntheticf. My brother is an only child. Contradictiong. Puppies are human. ContradictionComment: 7d is synthetic because there are nations whose last king was not George Fahd bin Abdulaziz al Saud.

8. Explain why synthetic sentences are potentially informative whereas analytic sentences and contradictions are not.Synthetic sentences are potentially informative because they contain information that could be either true or false, depending on the circumstances. If we are told that a particular king is also a father, for example, that is informative, because there is nothing in the sense of king that makes specific reference to this sort of information, which must be supplied by a particular context. On the other hand, knowing that a king is a monarch is uninformative, because the sense of king already contains the monarch notion within it. A similar explanation could be given for contradictions.9. Give some necessary conditions for the following lexical items:a. table c. sister b. car d. teacherAnswers will vary widely.

10. Is it possible to list a set of necessary and sufficient conditions to fully and adequately characterize the lexical item mother? Try to come up with a couple such sets of conditions and then explain why they are insufficient.(Hint: think of all the current terms which contain the word mother, including birth mother, surrogate mother, stepmother, biological mother, adoptive mother, natural mother, foster mother, unwed mother, genetic mother, etc.)No. As with Wittgenstein's game example discussed in this unit, the concept of mother is too complex, as shown by the many examples given above.

11. What is the difference between prototype and stereotype (or semantic feature) as set forth in this unit?A prototype is an actual entity in the extension of a predicate that is the most central member. A stereotype is an abstract specification or list of typical features of the prototype.

1. Explain the following terms and concepts:*extension *fuzzy set * extension of a one-place predicate *ostensive definition *prototype *denotation2. Is the difference between reference and sense clear-cut or not? Explain and illustrate.Not with respect to the two notions being completely separate from each other. Because sense fixes extension, i.e. because we have to know a predicate's sense in order to know what it can refer to, there is a relationship between the two notions.3. Explain the notion of potential referents in connection with the phrase the book.The potential referents of the book is the set of all individual books to which the predicate book can be truthfully applied.4. What term introduced in this unit describes the set of potential referents of a referring expression such as the noun phrase the book in #3 above?Extension of the predicate.5. Distinguish between referent and extension.The referent of a referring expression is an individual entity referred to by that expression that is dependent on a particular occasion of use. The extension of a referring expression is the set of individual entities to which the referring expression could potentially refer. The extension is independent of any occasion of use.6. Make sure you understand the chart in which the differences and similarities between sense, extension, and reference are described. In what way are sense and extension alike, and unlike reference? In what way are extension and reference alike, and unlike sense?Sense and extension are alike (and unlike reference) in that they are independent of any occasion of use.Extension and reference are alike (and unlike sense) in that they share the property of connecting linguistic expressions to the world.7. In this unit we said that "A speaker's knowledge of the sense of a predicate provides...an idea of its extension". In other words, we noted that sense fixes (determines) extension. Explain as best you can in your own words.Your answer may vary, but it should contain the idea that we have to know something about the stable, context-free meaning of a predicate (sense) in order to know what entities in the world (or possibly some imaginary world) can be referred to by that predicate.8. Do you think it would be possible for the extension of a predicate to fix (determine) the sense of that predicate? Why or why not?No, because as we have defined sense and extension we would have no way to figure out for sure the full context-free meaning of a predicate (its sense) just by knowing one or more of the entities that the predicate can refer to. Knowing that an entity is a referent of a predicate gives little insight into what the other members of the extension might be, which would be necessary in order to fully determine the predicate's sense.9. Describe briefly the extension of car.The set of all entities to which the predicate car can be truthfully applied.10. What is meant by the statement that "extensions are relative to all times, past, present and future"? How can we restrict the extension of a predicate?The extensions of most common predicates don't generally change much over time. For example, the extension of tree is probably much the same as it was 1000 years ago, since the concept has not appreciably changed in that time, nor has the number and type of entities to which the predicate can be applied. An exception might be if the sense of a predicate changed in some way so as to alter the kinds of entities in the predicate's extension. An example might be the sense of building, which has arguably broadened to include additional kinds of structures over the years.One way to restrict the extension of a predicate is to restrict the tense of the verb in the sentence in which the predicate is used. Another is by using modifiers, such as adjectives, to narrow down the range of noun predicates, as in old book, which restricts the extension of book to the subset of books that are old.11. In this unit we noted that extension and meaning cannot be equated (cf. featherless biped and rational animal). Why not?Extension and meaning are not the same thing, because more than one expression can have the same set of potential referents (extension) and yet differ in meaning. Featherless biped and rational animal both have the same extension (i.e. the set of human beings), and yet they don't mean the same thing, because they have different senses that pick out different aspects of what it means to be a human.12. What is the basic flaw in the idea of extensions? What are fuzzy sets and how is this notion supposed to resolve the problem? Give your own example.The basic flaw in the idea of extensions is that the boundaries of the sets characterized by the extensions of most predicates is often fuzzy and indeterminant. Speakers often aren't sure whether an entity is in the extension of a predicate, or not, because there are gradations in set membership. Fuzzy sets are sets whose boundaries are flexible, i.e. not rigidly defined with respect to whether an entity is in the set or not. An example is the difference between a table and a desk: speakers may not be sure whether a particular entity belongs to the extension of table or desk if the entity has characteristics that are indeterminant between the two things.13. What does the notion of natural kind play with respect to the notion of extension? What originally motivated the notion of an extension?Natural kinds are entities occurring in the real world, such as particular kinds of animals and plants, etc. whose extensions have relatively clear-cut boundaries. The notion of an extension was originally motivated to explain speakers' ability to refer to objects in the world, among other things. A fuller account of this is given in the unit.14. Briefly describe prototypical examples of the following entities, along with one or two non-prototypical examples that could also be referred to by each predicate. Explain why the non-prototypical examples diverge from the prototype.a. bird d. dog b. book e. flower c. furniture f. chairYour answers will vary considerably, and so I do not provided any here.15. What does the concept prototype have to do with meaning? How is it related to the learning of the meanings of certain expressions?A prototype is a typical, most central example of a predicate. Often the meanings of expressions will be learned by ostensive definition involving a prototype. A learner will be shown a typical example of a predicate ostensively (by pointing), and this will enable the learner to gradually extend her knowledge of the extension of the predicate.16. In this unit we gave several examples in which cultural differences can lead to different prototypes. Think of some more examples not mentioned in the book.Possible examples: building, shoe, car, bus, dog, etc., all of which might have different prototypes in different cultures.17. Give some examples not in the book which would likely be learned via ostensive definition and some which are not likely learned that way.Your answers will vary. Typically, predicates learned ostensively tend to be those referring to concrete entites in the real world, such as dog, cat, mountain, etc. Less likely to be learned in this way are such abstractions as love, hate, beauty, etc.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Unit 11. After studying the unit one, you should understand these terms and concepts:

semantics

linguistics

sentence (word) meaning

language

speaker meaning

components of language

native speaker (informant)

theory of semantics

2. Try to restate in your words each of the following uses of the word mean as it is used in each sentence below. Do you think each use is more reflective of speaker meaning or sentence meaning? Explain.

a. I mean to be there tomorrow.

b. A stalling car may mean a tune-up.

c. "Calligraphy" means beautiful handwriting.

d. It wasn't what he said but what he meant.

e. What does the Arabic word ‘kitab’ mean?

f. Those clouds mean rain.

3. What is meant by a theory of semantics? Try to explain this briefly in your own words.4. Which of the following items appear to illustrate sentence meaning and which illustrate speaker meaning in the way these concepts were introduced in this unit? Be able to explain your choice.

a. A bachelor is an unmarried man.

b. A red light means 'stop'.

c. A fine product THEY put out! (THEY emphasized)

d. The sentences in the following pair appear to be opposite in meaning:

1) The bear killed the man.

2) The man killed the bear.

e. My feet are killing me.

5. Is meaningfulness synonymous with informativeness? Explain using an example.

6. A semantic theory should account for items like the following, which we will study in the following units. Can you guess now what aspect of meaning is involved in each example?

a. The King of Saudi Arabia is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.b. She can't bear children.c. You're sitting in the apple-juice seat.d. How long did Ali stay in Hail?e. A camel is an animal.f. Ali’s present wife is unmarried.g. The car needs to be washed.h. If Ali killed Ahmed is true, then so is Ahmed is dead.

7. Semantics "concentrates on the similarities between languages, rather than on the differences" (p.11). Do you agree with this sort of focus? Does it seem too narrow? Why or why not?

1. After studying the unit two, you should understand these terms and concepts:

sentence

declarative sentence

utterance

interrogative sentence

proposition

imperative sentence

2. Is semantics concerned only with complete sentences? Explain.

3. Indicate the conventions used to distinguish a sentence from an utterance. Give an illustration of each.

4. Indicate whether each of the following sentence pairs expresses the same or different propositions.

a. Laila read the book

The book was read by Laila.

b. Freih took back the book

Freih took the book back.

c. The cat chased the rat

The cat was chased by the rat.

d. The chef cooked the meal

The chef had the meal cooked.

e. Hondas are easy to fix

It's easy to fix Hondas.

5. Explain the statement: "Normally, when a speaker utters a simple declarative sentence, he commits himself to the truth of the corresponding proposition: i.e. he asserts the proposition. By uttering a simple interrogative or imperative, a speaker can mention a particular proposition, without asserting its truth."

6. In each of the following, indicate whether a proposition is asserted or not, and explain why.

a. Ali left yesterday.b. Did Ali leave yesterday?c. Can Ali leave this afternoon?d. Ali, get out of here.e. Ali!

7. Decide whether each pair of sentences below has the same or different propositional content. If they have the same propositional content, identify the proposition that they both share.

a. Can Ali have some cake?b. Take out the garbagec. Can you pass the salt?

8. Utterances can be loud or quiet, in a particular regional accent, and in a particular language. Can you think of other characteristics of utterances?

Unit 3

1. After studying the unit three, you should understand these terms and concepts:

sense

context

reference

dialect

referent

proposition

2. Can different expressions have the same referent? Give an example not found in this unit.

3. Can the same expression have different referents? Give an example not found in this unit.

4. Give an example of an expression that has an invariable referent and of one that has no referent.

5. Explain the statement, "Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every expression has reference" in your own words.

6. Does a dictionary definition of a word include everything a typical native speaker knows about the word's meaning? Explain.

7. Comment of the following examples, making reference to concepts introduced in this unit:

a. The evening star/The morning starb. King of Saudi Arbaia/Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia/Custodian of the Two Holy Mosquesc. Visiting relatives can be boring.d. The planet Marse. Beating wife is dangerous.

Unit 4

1. After studying the unit four, you should understand these terms and concepts:

referring expression

indefinite noun phrase

definite noun phrase

opaque context

equative sentence

2. Which of the following could be used as referring expressions? Be able to explain why or why not.

3. For sentences 3-6 below decide whether the italicized noun phrases are referring expressions or not, and explain why (or why not). If the sentence is ambiguous explain why it is ambiguous.

a. His father married a teacher.b. Ali wants to marry a teacher.c. The whale is the largest mammal.d. The man who shot Kennedy was Lee Harvey Oswald.e. Explain the ambiguity in: I am looking for a pencil.f. Create a set of circumstances under which the sentence Ali believesthat...signed the bill is an opaque context. Use the referring expressions Kingof Saudi Arbaia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in your answer.

4. Which of the following are equative sentences? Explain why.

a. Ali is the man with the camel.b. Abdulaziz Ibn Saud is the current King of Saudi Arabia.c. Al Qassim is a nearby city.d. Fahd is a genius.e. A box of cookies is what I would like.f. Riyadh is not the largest city in Saudi Arabia.

5. Consider the sentence It’s a tree. Assume that this sentence is uttered by a particular person on a particular occasion to pick out a particular tree. Briefly explain how each of the following technical terms introduced so far in this book apply to the utterance of this example sentence: sentence, utterance, reference, referent.

Unit 5

1. After studying the unit five, you should understand these terms and concepts:

predicator

predicate

argument

degree of predicate

ellipsis (elliptical)

identity relation

2. Underline the arguments and circle the predicator(s) in each sentence:

a. Ali is a linguist.b. Ali loves Noof.c. Noof loves Ali.d. Noof gave Ali a book.e. Qassim is between Hail and Riyadh.f. Laila is Noof’s motherg. Yusuf is the Dean of the College.h. Yusuf stood near the bank.i. Freih is a fool.j. Freih is foolish.

3. Indicate the degree of the predicates used as predicators in each sentence in item 2 above.

4. How does the concept of predicate in the semantic sense differ from the concept of grammatical predicate? Does one seem to be more revealing than the other?

5. Do you agree with this statement, “ The prepositions from and of in different from and afraid of "are meaningless linking particles and are not themselves predicates” Consider a sentence such as The letter is from my uncle before reaching a conclusion.

6. Does the verb ‘be’ in following sentences function as an identity predicate or as a grammatical device for linking a non-verbal predicate to its first argument?

a. Fahd is happy.b. A camel is an animal.c. Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud is the king of Saudi Arabia.d. God is.

7. Does it make sense to say that the verb be has a meaning of its own, independent of whether it is used as a linking device or as the identity predicate? Speculate about what it could mean, and don't be concerned if your answer is quite abstract. Many lexical items in the world's languages have very abstract meanings.

Unit 6

1. After studying the unit six, you should understand these terms and concepts:

4. Language can create unreal worlds. Explain with the help of an example.

5. How was the question of the existence of God resolved with respect to the notion referring expression? How are we able to resolve the apparent difficulty of dealing with such referring expressions as yesterday, four hundred, and the distance between Hail and Riyadh, etc.?

6. How is it that we can understand speech and writings about non-existent, imaginary worlds?

7. Construct a short example of a conversational exchange different from the ones given in this unit which illustrates that the participants are working within partially different universes of discourse.

8. Why is it that "no universe of discourse is a totally fictitious world"? What would happen if this were the case?

Unit 7

After studying unit 7, you should understand these terms and concepts:

deictic words (deictics)

context

reported speech

definiteness

2. What parts of speech can function as deictics? List them and give an example or two of each, preferably different from the ones given in this unit.

3. Are deictics a useful device in language, or are they a burden to the speaker? Explain and illustrate.

4. Identify all the deictic expressions in the following sentences and be able to explain why they are decitic.

a. You noticed me standing there.b. This book was written by that author over there.c. Just set your briefcase to the right of mine.d. Now we have to make plans for next week.e. Her best friend was standing behind Nora.f. All the guests arrived two hours ago.

5. Use an utterance of your own to report the following utterances from a vantage point distant in time and space. Be sure to change the deictic expressions as needed. Assume the people are speaking to you.

a. Ali: "I will do that assignment tomorrow."b. Ahmed: "I don't see any good books here."c. Ali: "Why couldn't you help me last week?"

6. Is it possible to know the truth value of a sentence with a deictic expression independently of the context in which it is uttered? Give an example and explain.

7. When is it appropriate to use the definite article the? When is it appropriate to use the indefinite article a?

8. Think of a context in which it would be appropriate to use the following utterances, and one in which it would be inappropriate:

c. "Did you meet her at a university?"Appropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.Inappropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.

9. Is the definite article the the only word that signals definiteness? Explain and illustrate.10. Are all definite noun phrases referring expressions? Is every noun phrase with the definite article semantically definite? Give examples.

11. Suppose you accidentally drive the family car through a plate glass window late at night and that your parents know you have been driving the car. You first call your parents, then the police, to report the accident. Which of the following utterances would you most likely say to each party?

a. "I just drove a car through a plate glass window."b. "I just drove the car through a plate glass window."c. "I just drove a car through the plate glass window."d. "I just drove the car through the plate glass window."

12. Which utterance in question 11 would you most likely say to the owner of the store whom you contact after calling the police? Explain.

13. Does the change of articles affect the truth value of the utterances in 11 above?

14. Consider the following sentences and try to determine what factor the speaker uses in choosing the italicized verb in each. Also comment on the difference in meaning in the choice of different verbs with respect to the speaker's perspective on the scene.

a. I just called to see if you will be coming to see me tomorrow.b. I just called to see if you will be going to see me tomorrow.c. She asked me to come to her party, but I didn't go.d. Please come in.e. Please go in.f. Don't bring any food with you.